Page 13 of Tye

“Whatever you want, just don’t send me away,” I begged, and finally, they nodded.

Pops sighed as if he knew they’d give in, but I caught the pride in his eyes.

I wasn’t lying. My life was fucked up because I was inbred, and it was horrible. But my uncles and mother had refused to acknowledge I was their sister and their niece/daughter. Luckily, I was treated as if my sperm donor had been anyone else apart from my own grandfather/father. How confusing did shit need to get?

Leaving home was hard. This ranch had been ours ever since I’d been born, and it was in my blood. We were miles away from Rapid City, situated in South Shore, in north-east South Dakota. The Double M was profitable, and it amused us that a sworn biker had turned into a rancher. Uncle Deke was rarely here as he’d worked to bring Fury down. But my Uncles Carter and Gideon had homes on the land and ran the cattle.

My stepfather Reuben and my Aunt Sienna’s husband, Teddy, also helped run the ranch. Pops had bought a massive plot and given each of his grandchildren fifty acres to build on. When you owned over fifty thousand acres, you didn’t miss the odd couple of hundred you gifted your grandchildren.

My grandma, Evelyn, lived with Pops, who was my great-grandfather. But Evelyn was also my stepmom and Pops, my step grandfather. That’s how complicated the relationships were. My cousins were also my nieces and nephews. Talk about a hillbilly kid. That was me. Inbred.

Thankfully, I didn’t have Fury’s surname either. Mom’s name was Moore, so I had that, which was a relief.

With a sigh, I shoved the negative thoughts aside. It didn’t help to dwell on what Fury had done to my family.

The point was, I stayed to the role my mom and uncles had put me in. And that was daughter/niece.

I’d grown up on this ranch and knew nothing different. I went to school in Waverley, dropped off by an uncle and picked up by one. After what had transpired with Grandma, nobody let us kids roam freely. But we were pretty well-rounded. We just understood shit happened when other youngsters didn’t.

Such as how to shoot, make anything into a weapon, and we took self-defence—and kicked ass doing it. We could fight anything. Hell, at eight, I could drive a car and use evasive driving to flee danger. Fifty thousand acres of land gave us lots of space to practise. Pops had trained us to survive and escape. And we thrived on that shit. Which meant I wasn’t going to run away and hide. I would fight. That’s what I’d been taught.

Mom swapped glances with Reuben, who shook his head, and I walked across the room and crouched at her feet.

“Don’t be angry,” I begged.

“I’m not, baby girl. I will worry though. But I understand this is something you require. I’m just torn between leaving you and staying,” Mom replied.

“Hey, don’t. Reuben and you are responsible for the kids. Mom, you got to put them first. Take them and go. Honestly, I’ll be fine with the uncles and Pops.”

“Demi, you’re still my baby, too,” Mom said, and I smiled.

Mom was thirty-seven but looked younger. Even though life had treated Mom roughly, she’d aged well. Grandma Evelyn was the same.

“Momma, I’m grown up now. Your worry needs to be the brats. If Fury discovers us, you know what he’ll do. We all do. Go with the aunts, Reuben and Teddy, and protect my siblings,” I insisted.

“Be safe,” Mom whispered, cupping my cheek.

“Ditto,” I said and hugged Mom tightly.

Reuben leaned in and hugged us, too.

He’d been around since I was a kid, and Reuben was basically my father. But the word dad for me had bad connotations, so I called him Reuben. However, I made sure Reuben knew in every way I believed him to be my father.

“Demi, I’ll look after Mom, you stay safe. It would break my heart if something happened,” Reuben whispered.

“Love you,” I mumbled.

“Not as much as I love you, sweet girl,” Reuben murmured and kissed the top of my head.

“Let’s start packing. Phoenix is sending a plane tomorrow. You’re heading out then,” Pops said.

It was hard leaving the ranch. Pops’ close friend, Devon, was going to watch over it. Devon had worked at her family ranch all her life and knew ranching as well as we did. But her brother had inherited the ranch, and he was an asshole. Devon had come to stay ten years ago and helped manage the Double M Ranch since then.

Honestly, I thought little packing remained. Mom and the aunts had packed a week ago. Each kid had several suitcases filled with warm clothes, and the adults were near enough finished. Pops ensured they all had a debit card to buy items that had been forgotten. He wasn’t too worried about them going nuts on it. All the aunts and Mom were stingy with money, apart from one.

That was Trudy; she loved spending and often on meaningless shit. Trudy was the epitome of high maintenance, and we weren’t sure how Uncle Gideon put up with her. Currently, she was all atwitter about travelling on a private plane. The fact Uncle Gideon might not survive wasn’t an issue.Nope. Trudy’s priorities were what outfit she would wear to travel in. It was a damn good job Aunt Ember had Trudy’s card!

I moved away and walked out to my ATV. We either drove these to get to each other’s houses or rode horses. Today, I’d used my ATV.